Engraving work by Travis Collins of Collins Custom Woodworking for boardwalk planking that will be installed in Ocean Gate. / Asbury Park Press photo/MARK R. SULLIVAN

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If you want something done, you’ve got to do it yourself.

Since Superstorm Sandy struck in October 2012, that philosophy has guided several Jersey shore towns in their recovery efforts.

Limited by state and federal aid, seaside communities such as Belmar and Lavallette turned to their biggest fans — residents and visitors — for support through a simple initiative dubbed Buy-A-Board.

Their unexpected success spurred other towns to launch their own fundraisers, which let those who love the shore most leave a lasting mark at their favorite beaches.

From Ocean Grove to Ocean Gate, those fundraisers raked in about $2.7 million to help towns restore iconic structures from benches to boardwalks once federal aid reached its threshold, if it came at all.

More importantly, private donations thus far have spared residents and beachgoers from spikes in local taxes and beach badge fees to fill the financial gaps.

Success was underestimated

“One thing we found was that people wanted to be a part of the recovery, both in the state and across the country,” Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty said, adding the borough would have needed to raise beach badge fees without the campaign. “Ours was incredibly successful.”

Belmar sold 6,777 boards and netted $727,000 by the time the program ended in May. That money covered much of the $1.5 million that the borough still owed after it received $9.2 million in federal funds for its newly built $10.7 million boardwalk, said Colleen Connolly, the municipality’s business administrator.

For $25 to $5,000, Belmar offered donors seven different sizes of boards on which they could have their names engraved and posted at a beach entrance of their choice. Donations flowed from people as far west as California and as far east as Sweden. A few months later than expected, the town finished mounting the boards around Thanksgiving, Connolly said.

“We’re very pleased with the end result,” she said.

Nearly three months after Belmar began its Buy-A-Board campaign, Lavallette introduced one of its own in February.

The devastated borough on Ocean County’s battered shoreline hoped to sell 1,000 boards. By the time the fundraiser ended in September, Lavallette had raised $352,400 from selling 1,762 boards at $250 apiece, said Joanne LaCicero, whose charity, Donations of Love, sponsored the program.

“We totally underestimated the success of the project,” she said.

The donations will sit in a general fund until the Borough Council and chief finance officer determine its best use, said LaCicero’s husband, Mayor Walter LaCicero.

The money could help the numerous financial hurdles Lavallette still faces more than a year after Sandy barreled through the town, the mayor said.

Sandy devastated Lavallette’s borough hall, police department and lifeguard headquarters so severely that each requires total rebuilding. A combined borough hall and police department could run about $3.5 million, and renovations on the lifeguard building alone could cost around $240,000, the mayor said.

The donations from Lavallette’s campaign could help remove some of the eventual burden for those costs from borough taxpayers, he said. “There won’t be any shortage of need for it, that’s for sure.”

'Peace, love and sandy feet'

John Patrick and his wife, Lois, both full-time Lavallette residents for 21 years, quickly filed their request for an engraving that reads “We ‘shore’ love Lavallette” on a board at the end of their street.

“I think the people have a little sense of ownership in the town, and it’s good for the town that has certainly been banged up financially with the infrastructure that had to be repaired,” John Patrick said. “Any little help that the residents can give — I think most of the people who live in the town love the town and would like to help to the extent that they can.”

In Belmar, donors had their names engraved on plaques that the borough later mounted as signs along its boardwalk at entrances to its beach. The donors chose the location of display.

The more donors gave, the bigger their names on the signs. The biggest donors who gave at least $5,000 fell under the label Big Kahuna, while those who contributed at least $25 fell under the designation Beach Bum.

Lavallette’s program had boardwalk planks engraved in return for their donations.

At each street end, dozens of boards bear engraved names, personal memories and inside jokes, such as “Life is better over the bridge,” “Sand in our suits since 1949,” and “Peace, love and sandy feet.”

Opening their hearts and pockets

In the Ocean Grove section of Neptune, private donations again came to the rescue, although in a different way.

The federal government rejected Ocean Grove’s requests to reimburse any amount of the estimated $3 million for boardwalk reconstruction. But then the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association, the ministry organization that privately owns the structure, started its Together Campaign.

After it began in April, the campaign generated a range of tax-deductible donations from $1 to $150,000. By the time it ended in October, the fundraiser had collected more than 1,000 donations for $1.6 million, which surpassed its original goal of $1.5 million, said David Lotz, spokesman for the Ocean Grove association.

“People are very dedicated to Ocean Grove from both sides of the spectrum, which speaks to why people opened their hearts and their pockets,” he said.

Of the money raised, the association has earmarked $750,000 for its boardwalk. Meanwhile, the organization hopes its third appeal for federal aid will yield the remaining $2.25 million, Lotz said.

Buy-A-Board bandwagon

In Point Pleasant Beach, Councilman Andy Cortes said he initially didn’t have interest to pursue a Buy-A-Board campaign, but Lavallette’s success changed the his mind.

Cortes figures Point Pleasant Beach could put donations toward its Community Endowment Fund, a nonprofit that could use the money for new bike racks or beach restrooms.

“It’s not just a donation,” he said. “You get something and you help the town for something else down the road. Whatever it is, this would take the burden off the taxpayer.”

In Seaside Heights, officials decided to launch a Sponsor-A-Board program to fund a centennial project. If successful, the borough will not rely as much on taxpayer dollars, if at all, as it initially considered, said John Camera, borough administrator. The Business Improvement District recently announced $30,000 was raised through the fundraiser.

And Ocean Gate started a Buy-A-Board program in March with hopes to raise enough money to offset the local taxpayers’ share of the $783,000 it cost to rebuild its mile-long boardwalk. Federal reimbursement will cover 90 percent of that cost, which leaves 10 percent for taxpayers, said Chief Financial Officer Paulette Konopka.

So far, the borough has sold 35 boards for a total of $8,000.

Different approaches

The widespread success of soliciting private donations has not persuaded all Sandy-hit towns to pursue a similar method.

In Spring Lake, officials bonded for $4 million to cover storm-related costs. After federal aid, it expects to owe roughly $400,000, but it will not ask for private donations to cover the gap, Business Administrator W. Bryan Dempsey said.

Spring Lake lost its boardwalk twice in two years, first to Hurricane Irene in 2011 and then to Sandy in 2012. Both times, the borough resolved to rebuild its wooden icon without collecting private donations.

“It would change the character of the town,” Dempsey said. “We’ve always been a town with no commercialization.”

In Long Branch, officials have rejected donations from private donors and told them to give the money to funds intended for individual storm victims, said Howard Woolley, the city’s business administrator.

“We wanted to see where we were coming out with (the Federal Emergency Mangement Agency) before we took money from our residents,” he said.

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